A Tory minister has talked until a law to automatically pardon 50,000 men criminalised under anti-gay laws ran out of time.

Sam Gyimah was still speaking today at 2.30pm when the 'whistle' went on a backbench MP's Bill inspired by wartime codebreaker Alan Turing.

Under archaic House of Commons rules that means it's been shelved without letting MPs vote.

The Justice Minister insisted the government was working on separate pardon laws with safeguards to stop people guilty of crimes that still exist today, like paedophiles and rapists, being cleared by accident.

He added: "Yes, we all want a pardon. Yes, we all want to right the wrongs of the past. But we cannot do that without having... safeguards. I believe to do that would be irresponsible on the part of the government."